Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

THE LORD

The Lord he is good and perfection
Each day his mercies are new
His name is Yeshua, the Christ
He is Holy, Just and True.
The Lord is a wonderful Counsellor
For wisdom comes from his hand;
In understanding no one is better
A blessing has been his command.
The Lord is the One who can save you;
You must believe on him now
The Lord shed his blood -
To cleanse you from sin
So repent and give him your trow.

Psalm 8:1

SD,

Tend to agree with your statement

"I suspect the 10 commandments were something that evolved over a long period of time rather than some folkloric event" (7.7.14 - 1.53pm). 

And kinda think  in an effort  to create some semblance of order, sheer survival,  or simply sharing and distribution of  resources etc. get the impression that most human societies have at some time developed rules, protocols,  forms of etiquette, spiritual  rituals to live by i.e. Initiation ceremonies, funeral rites etc.  Or even something like 'avoidance practices' that I believe were practised by indigenous Australians and perhaps still are. 

No doubt all these rules, protocols, rituals, and etiquette forms are  inherently bound and implicit to our understanding of culture and in some societies  probably not meant to be regarded as something separate. 

Sadly colonization, belief in white superiority, ignorance and fear of difference have too often arrogantly undermined the belief systems of other societies/cultures  to the point where some think the only rules of a civilized existence are 'the Ten Commandments'. 

Think I believe in a God mostly, but probably function mainly as a humanist, but can see the appeal of some buddhist practices, all the while dealing with the Catholic guilt of my upbringing....ya gotta laugh...and pretty sure God/Jesus  has a sense of humour.

THREE HEAVENS

Have you ever stopped to think
Taken one thought about the Lord;
Or considered this Earth you stand upon
Did you ever read in God's Word ?

That there are three heavens;
The first contains the air
The second holds the whirling spheres
The third ? well God dwells there.

In the first there are the clouds
The winds that blow, the rain
Where birds fly on a summers day
And sing their sweet refrain.

In the second there is the sun
The moon and stars at night
This heaven bears the spinning orbs;
Appoints their path of flight.

In the third God does dwell
Above all time and space;
Who controls all things by his great hand
And sustains all by his grace.

The Old Testament is brutal because those times were brutal. You can't use modern morality to judge barbaric times. This is the excuse I get over and over again for Biblical cruelty. So the cruelty itself is not denied, it's justified because of the time period in which it happened. Under that explanation an all-powerful god was not able to provide moral guidance that transcended the time people were living in. So god had no choice but to give brutal and barbaric instructions as the people were brutal and barbaric and he possessed absolutely no ability to progress the society. That is one pathetic god.

Looking for something superior to the Ten Commandments? Try the following:
1. We are all human beings on this earth for a short period of time. No one is deserving of worship and no one is deserving of oppression.
2. Every god known by man is a god made by man. There are no words of god, only words of men put into the mouths of giant puppets.
3. Do good because it’s the right thing to do. Do good because you are a representative and a warrior for what is good, and you take that responsibility with the highest regard.
4. Know thyself so that when the opportunity arises to fight evil there will be no hesitation.
5. Gather wisdom from all sources, take the best and repeat it often.
6. Understand that very few differences are in absolutes but rather in degrees of separation. One who thinks in absolutes is handicapped by a crystallized mind in a dynamic world.
7. Damage through oblivious incompetence yields the same results as damage through bad intent.
8. Have the utmost integrity and do not be naive. Have the awareness and wits to confront corruption early on as it’s much easier to neutralize in its’ infancy.
9. Don’t worry about being acknowledged by others; worry about failing to acknowledge them.
10. People in large numbers regardless of label or creed have the capacity for great good or great evil. The direction always depends on leadership.

-James Kirk Wall

References:
The Bible New International Version
http://www.biblegateway.com
Obey Thy Ten Commandments or Else - by Chris Thiefe
http://www.evilbible.com/ten_commandments.htm
Ten Commandments of the Rationalist Warrior – James Kirk Wall
http://www.chicagonow.com/an-agnostic-in-wheaton/2012/02/ten-commandments-of-the-rationalist-warrior/

TURN THE CRUCIFIX AROUND

Turn the crucifix around
And then you'll see
No Yeshua hanging on it
For the Cross is now empty

Turn the crucifix around
And then you'll know
That Yeshua is now raised
And above you can go

Turn the crucifix around
And then you can say
'I've now become a Christian
And I'm leaving Rome today !'

 'And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,  To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'

SUCH be some of you

Full QuestionAccording to Scripture, Adam and Eve had three children, Cain, Able and Seth, who married and had children. Whom did they marry?Answer

Adam and Eve had both sons and daughters (Gen. 5:4). Because there were no human beings except those born of Adam and Eve, sibling marriages were a necessity. St. Augustine says,

As, therefore, the human race, subsequently to the first marriage of the man who was made of dust, and his wife who was made out of his side, required the union of males and females in order that it might multiply, and as there were no human beings except those who had been born of these two, men took their sisters for wives,—an act which was as certainly dictated by necessity in these ancient days as afterwards it was condemned by the prohibitions of religion . . . and though it was quite allowable in the earliest ages of the human race to marry one’s sister, it is now abhorred as a thing which no circumstances could justify. (The City of God XV.16)

REVELATION

The Sun goes black as sackcloth
The Moon it gives no light
Men scream out in anguish;
Their hearts fail them for fright.

Men cry out in pain and terror
Men hide beneath the ground
Men long to die, not suffer;
But death will not be found.

The Day of the Lord has come
Daytime has turned to night
Light appears in heaven;
The WORD has come to fight.

He seizes the false prophet
And the beast as well
Many men they did deceive;
So they're cast into hell.

An angel will bind Satan
Cast him into the pit
But after the 'one thousand years'
He is released from it.

The WORD of God slays others
Against them God's wrath doth rage
Because they have received the mark;
And worshipped the image.

The slaying power of the WORD
Comes forth from His mouth
It is a sharp two - edged Sword;
Casting all evil out.

The birds of Earth will gather
Coming from all around
To feast upon the corpses;
That are scattered on the ground.

Hail will fall upon the Earth
One of the seven bowls
That will be poured on evil men;
Who rejected the truth foretold.

This is the truth of Yeshua the Christ
Who died at Calvary
Through the giving of His blood;
He gave for you and me.

So, if you would escape
This wrath of prophecy
Come and cling to Yeshua;
Come, and cling with me.

British actress Emma Thompson said in a 2008 interview: "I'm an atheist; I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist. I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Quran, and I refute them."

British actor Daniel Radcliffe, known for his role as Harry Potter, declared he was an atheist in a 2009 interview. "I'm an atheist, but I'm very relaxed about it," he said. "I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do."

British entrepreneur and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan that he believes in evolution and the importance of humanitarian efforts, but not in the existence of God. "I would love to believe," he said. "It's very comforting to believe."

During a 2002 interview on "Inside the Actor's Studio," actress Julianne Moore was asked what she would like to hear God say to her at the gates of heaven. She replied, "Well, I guess you were wrong. I do exist."

English actress Keira Knightley has joked that she wishes she were Catholic. "If only I wasn't an atheist; I could get away with anything," she said in 2012. "You'd just ask for forgiveness, and then you'd be forgiven."

Actress Jodie Foster told Entertainment Weekly in 2007 that she was an atheist. She added: "But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God, we celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids."

Legendary CBS News commentator Andy Rooney, who died in 2011 at age 92, was outspoken about religion. "I am an atheist," Rooney said at Tufts University in 2004. "I don't understand religion at all. I'm sure I'll offend a lot of people by saying this, but I think it's all nonsense."

Seth MacFarlane, creator of the animated series "Family Guy," has become vocal about his atheism. Asked about it in a 2009 interview with Esquire, he said: "It's like the civil-rights movement. There have to be people who are vocal about the advancement of knowledge over faith."

Academy Award-winning director James Cameron, known for films such as "Titanic" and "Avatar," calls himself a "converted agnostic." In "The Futurist," a biography by Rebecca Keegan, he says, "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism." Atheists believe there is no God, while agnostics say it's impossible to prove or disprove God's existence.

Sir Ian McKellen, best known for his roles as Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Magneto in the "X-Men" films, has listed atheism among the causes he cares most about. But he says since coming out as gay in 1988, he has been reluctant to lobby on issues beyond his most urgent concern: "legal and social equality for gay people worldwide."

You should not fear religion Pete.

Look what its done for Pixie.

You could be just like him, strong in faith, unshakeable, and going to heaven

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU&feature=kp

"Imagine"

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...